We've covered some great ways to get notified when your favorite artists release new music, but iTunes can notify you as well, and it's as simple as checking a few boxes in your Apple Account settings.

iTunes will send you email alerts about artists you've previously downloaded and purchased, all by checking a few boxes buried deep in your account settings:

Click the Store menu and select View My Account/View My Apple ID

Scroll down to Settings and look for "Alert Me."

Click "Manage" next to Alert Me

Select whether you want notifications based on artists you've previously downloaded (the first checkbox) or based on your library content (the second checkbox).

That's all there is to it. You can also go directly to artist pages in the iTunes Music Store and click the "Alert Me" link in the side of the page to be notified when there are new releases or tracks to download. All notifications go to the email address associated with your Apple ID. Even if you don't do a lot of music shopping in the iTunes Music Store, it's a great way to find out if your favorite musicians have released something new worth checking out.